Media Criticism & Chronicles from a Former Reporter

Reddit embraces its role as a journalistic entity with new live-reporting feature

Some critics may see Reddit as a more restrained version of the online community 4chan — a place for nerds to talk about Star Trek or whatever the latest meme is — but the site has also become a place where new forms of journalism occur, such as the reporting on breaking news events like a shooting or the war in Syria. To help make that even easier, Reddit has launched a “live blogging”-style feature that will eventually allow anyone to function as a kind of Reddit-based news reporter.

The feature, which is still in beta, is currently being tested on two very different Reddit threads or topics: one is a kind of stereotypical Reddit discussion about a fascinating game-based sociological experiment known as “Twitch Plays Pokemon,” which involves tens of thousands of people simultaneously playing an old-fashioned Pokemon game via real-time chat.

Journalism Ends Here

Adam F. Hutton

I have a Master's degree in Political Science and a Bachelor's degree in Media Studies. I'm a journalist and political scientist who writes about politics and media at Politics Starts Here and Journalism Ends Here. I tweet from @adamfhutton and @JournalismEnds.